Climb

I had an opportunity to meet with two fellow entrepreneurs today for a semi-regular ‘check-in’ and catch-up about what we’ve been working on lately. Both of them are at different stages in their lives, but also in their journey as entrepreneurs; one is older than me and used to a traditional career path, while the other is younger than me and also a bit greener as an entrepreneur.

The younger one has been a bit of a mentee for me over the last three years. I intersected him shortly after he shut down his first (of many to come) ventures, and offered assistance in getting his next start off of the ground. At that time, he was pinching pennies and seemed a bit unsure in his new venture. We’d meet semi-weekly for ‘Taco Tuesday’ at a local restaurant and would sketch out various plans and strategies he could take to get his latest venture off of the ground.

Today, he’s a different man. He now has a thriving business, small team and full foster of clients who he’s collected nearly $200,000 from so far this year. He’s comfortably on track to doubling his revenue by the end of 2027 with the system(s) and team he has in place.

Watching him grow in his journey as an entrepreneur has been something I’ve found a great deal of joy in doing, because he’s one of the small number of people I’ve coached that has run with the bits and pieces of advice I’ve offered – and applied it successfully; with a great deal of humility, I’ll note.

Sitting down at the table with him today provided me with my own opportunity to reflect on my journey as an entrepreneur – and Dad. It also encouraged me to see somebody who took to heart the little bits of advice I’ve given and applied it to their own journey, yielding fruit in the process.

Prior to meeting with him, I spun up a small team of agents and tasked them with my own client deliverables. While they worked, I was able to slam some incredible Mexican food and enjoy a beer while my friend and I chatted. When I came back to my home office, the project(s) were done and ready to send off to the client for review – who loved the work.

There are a lot of people who look at the word ‘entrepreneur’ and equate that occupation to the pursuit of financial gain. I used to. Now, I see the ‘e-world’ a lot differently; it’s not about making stacks of cash or IPO’ing a company, as much as it is about breaking free from the ‘rat race’ in life where you’re stuck doing a lot of things you don’t want to do in order to maintain the lifestyle you’ve sunk your teeth into.

These days, my greatest joy comes from being able to steer the proverbial ship of my time in the direction I choose, and the direction is largely oriented toward being the best Dad I can be for Atlas, which is the best investment I’ve ever made.

Years ago, I learned an invaluable lesson about choices and priorities, which involved putting sand and rocks in a bucket. If you pour sand in a bucket and then try to fit all of the rocks on top of the sand, you don’t have enough room for all of the rocks. However, if you put the rocks in first and then pour in the sand, you’re able to fill the bucket to the brim with all of the rocks – and all of the sand. It’s a great object lesson for learning how to prioritize your life.

Life is a lot different when you make time for the people and things that truly matter; giving back, accountability, kindness and generosity – to name a few. When you hold your life so tightly that you’re unable to extend a hand to others, you’re left with much less than if you keep your hands open for the opportunities and blessing{s) God wants to shower you with.

Beginning tomorrow, I get to spend a full week with Atlas and I’m at total peace in knowing that all of the to-do’s have been done, projects scoped, deliverables sent and invoices in their respective inboxes. For the first time in years, I don’t feel burdened or buried by a never-ending to-do list and couldn’t be more excited to have uninterrupted time with my favorite person (and people) in the world as we travel to visit friends and family.

In my journey as an entrepreneur, this chapter of life isn’t about IPO’ing or cashing out and retiring. Rather, it’s a season where I’m able to enjoy the fruit(s) of my labor, celebrate the successes of those climbing the mountain alongside of me and dilligently provide Atlas with an example of a Dad that he wants to follow and embody as he grows older.